Executive Director John Njord welcomed the group and reviewed the agenda.

UDOT Budget Update

John Njord, Executive Director, opened the discussion on the UDOT Budget Update by reviewing the history of how they got to where they currently are due to the revenue challenges with the state. They project even larger deficits, as revenues are not being generated like the legislature thought. There was concern about contracts being issued that could not be paid for, so the GOPB said to slow down spending, and fast. Therefore, a freeze was put on purchase of right-of-way parcels and construction contracts, which raised a lot of concern with contractors and others. Commissioner Brown said he appreciated the phone call with the heads up about the issue, but he expressed concern that the Commission was not “in the loop” and left out of taking action on it. Director Njord responded that things happened very quickly and they were concerned about making sure a full and consistent story was conveyed to as large an audience as possible. Commissioner Millington commented that he understands that the Department had to take quick action.

Carlos Braceras, Deputy Director, distributed a handout and noted that they are the projects funded with general funds that were put on hold. The Commission will have to reprioritize those projects once funding becomes available again. He explained the bonding situation and said they don’t want to be in a position where they are unable to pay the interest on the bonds. Additional discussion took place regarding bonding. Commissioner Wilson suggested that the line of communication between the Department and the Commission could be improved, in order to keep the Commission better informed on things that are happening within the Department.

FY 09 CHNF Funding Adjustment of $35 Million

Carlos Braceras explained the funding cuts that were made during the Special Session, and said this discussion had to do with the $35 million for FY 09 that was taken from the Critical Highway Needs Fund (CHNF) and the recommendation by the Department of where that adjustment would come from, for the Commission’s consideration. He noted that they are only proposing to address the FY 09 cuts, since there will be a much more significant program adjustment in the near future, based on legislative action and the Governor’s recommendation.

Ahmad Jaber, Systems Planning and Programming Director, distributed a handout and reviewed several pages from it. He referred to the second page, which was the Critical Highway Needs Fund Cash Flow List, and noted the funding amounts shown and the prioritization ranking of the projects. He said the third and fourth pages listed major capacity improvement projects on existing facilities, which included CHNF and other projects in the first phase of the Long Range Plan, with the exceptions of the projects on SR-10 and US-40. The projects highlighted in blue were fully funded; the orange dots showed projects in construction, and the green dots signified projects that were completed. The following page showed major capacity improvements on new facilities, and the last page showed new interchange improvements on existing freeways.

Mr. Jaber pointed out the Vineyard Connector project on line 14 on the new facilities list, which had the lowest ranking and $200 million of CHNF funds. He recommended that the $35 million be taken from that project, as the Department feels they could still have a good project, whereas it would be more difficult to take it from a project with less funding and still have a good project. Mr. Braceras added that the Department felt with $165 million on the Vineyard Connector, they could get to 500 East, instead of Main Street where Pioneer Crossing ties into. They could then bid the project with an option to see if the $165 million budget would be able to bring the rest of that scope in to the project, if that remains a priority for the Commission.

Federal Economic Stimulus List

Director Njord said there is potential for a significant stimulus bill from the feds that would provide significant transportation funding for Utah. Every state was asked to submit an updated list of projects that could be delivered quickly. Utah included all of the projects that were recently put on hold, adding the entire scope to some of those projects. The total came to almost $11 billion (see handout with the complete list of projects). That was nearly twice the amount of the next nearest state, which was Texas at $6 billion. If the stimulus package becomes a reality, it will be a time for the transportation industry to either shine or completely fail. Utah has done everything they could to be prepared for something like this. Chairman Adams commented that they better be ready, but they also ought to anticipate that the money may not come.

Other Items

Carlos Braceras distributed a map showing pavement maintenance management levels. He said it’s still a work in progress, but the map shows the status of where those levels currently are. He briefly explained the color-coding on the map and what they mean.

Mr. Braceras said the next handout is a letter from the Dixie MPO regarding work that has taken place regarding the local planning decisions that have affected the path of the approved Southern Parkway. Nathan Lee, Region Four Director, said he has met with every mayor, county commissioner, and legislative representative and senator from southern utah to discuss the issue. He mentioned that a committee would be meeting on the January 12th, and the Dixie MPO would come to the January Commission meeting to present how they plan to deal with the Southern Parkway issue. Commissioner Holbrook asked if any of the other Commissioners should attend the meeting along with Commissioner Lewis. Commissioner Lewis said any of the Commissioners were welcome to attend.

Mr. Braceras briefly reviewed information on the State Infrastructure Bank (SIB) item that will be discussed in the Commission meeting. He said that a repayment plan had been worked out with Kaysville City, so that won’t need to be considered by the Commission. However, there will be an interesting proposal by St. George City that will bring a lot of benefit to the state system on the Southern Parkway.

Chuck Larsen, Comptroller, explained a situation where an error was made with the B&C allocation for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2008. The hold harmless calculation was not made, resulting in nine hold harmless cities and counties receiving less than they should have, and the remaining cities and counties receiving more than they should have. The corrections have been made, and they just wanted the Commission to be aware of the situation.